Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

ABSTRACT

There is provided an information processing apparatus including an operation unit acquiring an input operation for a message composed of at least one of text and an image, a recording control unit recording the message in accordance with the acquired input operation, and a reproduction control unit reproducing the recorded message to display the message on a display unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/498,894 (filed on Apr. 27, 2017), which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 14/529,712 (filed on Oct. 31, 2014 andissued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,674,130 on Jun. 6, 2017), which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/156,287 (filed onJun. 8, 2011 and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,880,626 on Nov. 4, 2014),which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-140569(filed on Jun. 21, 2010), which are all hereby incorporated by referencein their entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus,an information processing method, and a program.

In recent years, there has been rapid development in electroniccommunication technologies. As examples, it is now common to exchangeinformation via electronic mail and to share information on a BBS(Bulletin Board System) on a Web page. Meanwhile, communicationtechnologies, such as a corkboard and a telephone answering machine,that enable text, image or audio information to be recorded and left ata real location where people gather, such as in the home, to enableother people who subsequently come to such location to share theinformation have been widely used since olden times.

The communication technologies described above have their respectiveadvantages. For example, a BBS has an advantage in that a log ofinformation is stored in a time series and can be viewed as necessary. Acork board has advantages in that information can be recorded and sharedwith a high degree of freedom by intuitive operations, such as bydisplaying important information so as to stand out or addinghandwritten text and/or decorations to better express the intentionand/or feelings of the person recording the information (hereinafterreferred to as the “poster”).

New communication technologies that combine the advantages of thecommunication technologies mentioned above are being developed. As oneexample, JP2008-263385A discloses a technology relating to an electroniccorkboard system where information that has been received via a homenetwork from a mobile telephone is displayed on a display apparatus andread by another mobile telephone

SUMMARY

However, when information is exchanged using mobile telephones asdisclosed in JP2008-263385A, compared to a corkboard for handwritteninformation for example, there is still lots of room for improvementregarding the intuitiveness of operations and the freedom with whichinformation can be recorded.

The present disclosure was conceived in view of the problems describedabove and aims to provide a novel and improved information processingapparatus, information processing method, and program that enable a userto record information by an intuitive operation and to share theinformation with another user.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is providedan information processing apparatus including an operation unitacquiring an input operation for a message composed of at least one oftext and an image, a recording control unit recording the message inaccordance with the acquired input operation, and a reproduction controlunit reproducing the recorded message to display the message on adisplay unit.

According to this configuration, it is possible for a user to record amessage by making an intuitive operation on an information processingapparatus. The recorded message is reproduced by the informationprocessing apparatus. By having another user view the reproducedmessage, it is possible to share information between the user whoinputted the message and the other user who viewed the reproducedmessage.

The recording control unit may further record a state of the inputoperation. The reproduction control unit may process the message inaccordance with the state of the input operation to reproduce themessage.

The recording control unit may record a duration of the input operation.The reproduction control unit may reproduce animation of the messagewith a duration in keeping with the duration of the input operation.

The reproduction control unit may reproduce the animation of the messageby making the duration of reproduction shorter than a duration of theinput operation for an interval in input of the message during the inputoperation.

The recording control unit may reproduce an entire image of the messageand the animation of the message in parallel.

The reproduction control unit may divide the message into a plurality ofparts and reproduce the animation of the respective parts in parallel.

The reproduction control unit may be operable when the duration of theinput operation exceeds a first threshold, to reproduce the animation ofthe message by making the duration of reproduction shorter than theduration of the input operation.

The reproduction control unit may be operable when the duration of theinput operation exceeds a second threshold, to reproduce the animationof the message by making the duration of reproduction a fixed valueregardless of the duration of the input operation.

The reproduction control unit may be operable when the duration of theinput operation is shorter than a third threshold, to reproduce theanimation of the message by making the duration of reproduction shorterthan the duration of the input operation.

The reproduction control unit may be operable when the duration of theinput operation exceeds a fourth threshold, to reproduce the animationof the message by making the duration of reproduction longer than theduration of the input operation.

According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, there isprovided an information processing method which includes acquiring aninput operation for a message composed of at least one of text and animage, recording the message in accordance with the acquired inputoperation, and reproducing the recorded message to display the messageon a display unit.

According to yet another embodiment of the present disclosure, there isprovided a program for causing a computer to execute a process acquiringan input operation for a message composed of at least one of text and animage, a process recording the message in accordance with the acquiredinput operation, and a process reproducing the recorded message todisplay the message on a display unit.

According to the embodiments of the present disclosure described above,it is possible for a user to record information by an intuitiveoperation and share the information with another user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the external appearance of an informationprocessing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of theinformation processing apparatus according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram useful in explaining a display screen according tothe same embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one example of a first display screendisplayed according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of the first display screendisplayed according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing one example of a second display screendisplayed according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram useful in explaining changes in the displayproportions of the first display screen and the second display screendisplayed according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing one example of a screen for generatinghandwritten messages using an input panel that is displayed according tothe same embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing one example of an image pickup screen for aphotograph using a camera unit realized by the input panel displayedaccording to the same embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing one example of an embellishment screen fora photograph using the input panel displayed according to the sameembodiment;

FIG. 11 is a diagram useful in explaining a move operation for a messageaccording to the same embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram useful in explaining a delete operation for amessage according to the same embodiment;

FIGS. 13A to 13D are diagrams useful in explaining one example of aprocedure whereby a handwritten message is reproduced according to asecond embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a diagram useful in explaining another example of a procedurewhereby a handwritten message is reproduced according to the sameembodiment;

FIG. 15 is a graph showing one example of the relationship between theduration of an input operation of a message and the duration ofreproduction according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a graph showing another example of the relationship betweenthe duration of an input operation of a message and the duration ofreproduction according to the same embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of aninformation processing apparatus according to a third embodiment of thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing one example of a display screen accordingto the same embodiment; and

FIG. 19 is a flowchart useful in describing a display process for a newmessage according to the same embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed in detail with reference to the appended drawings. Note that,in this specification and the appended drawings, structural elementsthat have substantially the same function and structure are denoted withthe same reference numerals, and repeated explanation of thesestructural elements is omitted.

The following description is given in the order indicated below.

1. First Embodiment

-   -   1. Apparatus Configuration    -   1-2. Configuration of Display Screens    -   1-3. Input Operation for Messages    -   1-4. Move and Delete Operations for Messages

2. Second Embodiment 3. Third Embodiment 4. Appendix 1. FIRST EMBODIMENT

1-1. Apparatus Configuration

First, the configuration of an information processing apparatusaccording to a first embodiment of the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the external appearance of an informationprocessing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processingapparatus 100 includes a display unit 110 and an operation unit 120, andis additionally equipped with a camera unit 130 as necessary.

The information processing apparatus 100 is set up in the home, forexample, and is used to share information by having members of thefamily view displayed messages. The location where the informationprocessing apparatus 100 is set up is not limited to inside the home andas other examples may be an office or a school. As shown in the drawing,the information processing apparatus 100 may be an apparatus in whichthe display unit 110, the operation unit 120, and the camera unit 130are integrally provided, or may be configured with the display unit 110,the operation unit 120 and the camera unit 130 as separate devices. Theinformation processing apparatus 100 may be a dedicated apparatus, ormay be one of various types of apparatus, such as a digital photo frame,a television set, a personal computer (which may be any of a tablet PC,a notebook PC, or a desktop PC), or a mobile terminal, that is equippedwith the display unit 110 and the operation unit 120 and functions asthe information processing apparatus 100 due to application softwarebeing installed.

The display unit 110 displays messages composed of text and/or images tousers. As examples, the display unit 110 may be an LCD (Liquid CrystalDisplay), a PDP (Plasma Display Panel), or an organic EL(Electro-Luminescence) panel. When the display unit 110 is configured asa separate device to other parts of the information processing apparatus100, the display unit 110 may be connected by an interface such as HDMI(High-Definition Multimedia Interface).

The operation unit 120 acquires an input operation made by a user for amessage composed of text and/or images. As shown in the drawing, theoperation unit 120 may be a touch panel provided on the screen of thedisplay unit 110 or may be another input apparatus, such as a tablet, amouse, or a keyboard. The operation unit 120 may also be a combinationof a plurality of input apparatuses.

Here, the message for which the operation unit 120 acquires an inputoperation may be one of various types of message composed of text and/orimages, such as a typed message, a handwritten message, a handwrittenevent/appointment, a photograph, or a photograph embellishment (notethat in this specification, the expression “photograph embellishment”refers to any text or drawing written on a photograph). The textreferred to here may be typed or handwritten. The images meanwhile maybe photographs or may be illustrations drawn by hand. The inputoperation for a message by the operation unit 120 may be the addition ofarbitrary information to a format provided in advance, for example aschedule, or may be editing of a message that has already been recorded,such as when a photograph embellishment is added to a photograph thatwas taken by the camera unit 130.

The camera unit 130 acquires an image in accordance with an inputoperation acquired by the operation unit 120. When the camera unit 130is configured so as to be separate to other parts of the informationprocessing apparatus 100, the camera unit 130 may be connected by aninterface such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) or IEEE 1394.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of theinformation processing apparatus 100 according to the first embodimentof the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the informationprocessing apparatus 100 includes the display unit 110, the operationunit 120, a control unit 140, and a storage unit 150, and isadditionally equipped with the camera unit 130 as necessary.

The control unit 140 includes a recording control unit 142 that recordsa message in accordance with an input operation by the user acquired bythe operation unit 120 and a reproduction control unit 144 thatreproduces recorded messages and displays the messages on the displayunit 110. As examples, the control unit 140 may be implemented by acircuit configuration including an integrated circuit or the like, ormay be implemented by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) executing aprogram stored in the storage unit 150.

Data that may be used for processing in the information processingapparatus 100 is stored in the storage unit 150. As one example,messages recorded by the recording control unit 142 are stored in thestorage unit 150. Also, when the control unit 140 is implemented by aCPU, a program that is executed by the CPU to cause the CPU to functionas the control unit 140 may be stored in the storage unit 150.

1-2. Configuration of Display Screens

Next, the configuration of display screens displayed by the informationprocessing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment of thepresent disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7.

FIG. 3 is a diagram useful in explaining a display screen according tothe first embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 3, thereproduction control unit 144 of the information processing apparatus100 displays a first display screen 200 and a second display screen 300on the display unit 110. As shown in the drawing, the reproductioncontrol unit 144 displays the first display screen 200 and the seconddisplay screen 300 in layers on the display unit 110. The reproductioncontrol unit 144 may also display an input panel 400 (not shown) forinputting a message in accordance with a user operation on the displayunit 110. The input panel 400 will be described later in thisspecification.

The first display screen 200 is a display screen in which messagesrecorded by the recording control unit 142 are displayed in a timeseries. The first display screen 200 functions as a message roll thatdisplays a historical log of messages that have been recorded, forexample. The messages displayed on the first display screen 200 continueto be displayed on the first display screen 200 until the user makes anoperation such as moving or deleting the messages or until a specifiedperiod has passed.

Here, when a large number of messages are displayed on the first displayscreen 200 and it is no longer possible to display the messages on thedisplay unit 110, the reproduction control unit 144 scrolls the firstdisplay screen 200 in a specified direction. The illustrated firstdisplay screen 200 is scrolled in the up-down direction of the screen.When the user has made no particular operation on the operation unit120, the first display screen 200 that includes the latest message thathas been recorded is displayed on the display unit 110. When the userhas performed a scroll operation using the operation unit 120, such as aselection operation for the upper part or lower part of the screen or anupward or downward drag operation, the reproduction control unit 144scrolls the first display screen 200 to display a historical log ofolder or newer messages. Note that the first display screen 200 and themessages displayed on the first display screen 200 will be described indetail later.

The second display screen 300 is a display screen for displayingmessages selected by the user out of the messages recorded by therecording control unit 142. The second display screen 300 functions as acorkboard that displays only certain messages, such as messages that areimportant to the user or that the user is interested in, at a positionthat is easy to view. The messages displayed on the second displayscreen 300 continue to be displayed on the second display screen 300until the user performs a moving or deleting operation.

Here, the messages displayed on the second display screen 300 may beindirectly added to by the reproduction control unit 144 copying ormoving messages displayed on the first display screen 200 onto thesecond display screen 300 in accordance with a user instruction acquiredby the operation unit 120. The messages displayed in the second displayscreen 300 may also be directly added to by the recording control unit142 recording a message in accordance with an input operation by theuser that has been acquired by the operation unit 120 and has the seconddisplay screen 300 as the input destination. When a message is directlyadded to the second display screen 300, the reproduction control unit144 may automatically copy the added message to the first display screen200 as the historical log of messages.

Unlike the first display screen 200, the second display screen 300 maybe set so that scrolling is not possible. In addition, when users addmessages to the second display screen 300 one after the other and suchmessages can no longer be displayed on the display unit 110, therecording control unit 142 may be set so as to not accept amessage-adding operation by a user for the second display screen 300 soas to urge the user to sort the messages already displayed on the seconddisplay screen 300. Note that the second display screen 300 and themessages displayed on the second display screen 300 will be described indetail later.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing one example of the first display screen 200displayed according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.As shown in FIG. 4, a typed message 210 a, a handwritten message 220,and an input button 230 are displayed on the first display screen 200.Aside from such messages, other types of message may be displayed on thefirst display screen 200, such as handwritten events/appointments andphotographs or photograph embellishments. As shown in the drawing, thetime/date may also be displayed on the first display screen 200. Notethat although the historical log of messages is displayed from the topto the bottom of the screen in the illustrated example, as otherexamples the direction in which the historical log of messages isdisplayed may be from the bottom to the top of the screen or may betoward the left or right of the screen in the 26 horizontal direction.

The typed message 210 a is a message produced by an input operationusing an input apparatus, such as a keyboard, included in the operationunit 120 of the information processing apparatus 100. As shown in thedrawing, in addition to the text, the typed message 210 a may beaccompanied by an icon image indicating the poster of the message.Although the typed message 210 a is shown in black and white in theillustrated example, the typed message 210 a may be displayed in colorusing one or a plurality of other colors. As shown in the drawing, thetyped message 210 a may also be accompanied by time/date informationshowing when the message was recorded.

The handwritten message 220 is inputted using the input panel 400,described later. The handwritten message 220 includes the handwrittentext “How about this?” and an image that is a drawing of a shoe.Although the handwritten message 220 is shown in black and white in theillustrated example, the handwritten message 220 may be displayed incolor using one or a plurality of other colors. As shown in the drawing,the handwritten message 220 may also be accompanied by time/dateinformation showing when the message was recorded.

Here, the reproduction control unit 144 may display the typed message210 a, the handwritten message 220, and other messages to be displayedon the first display screen 200 with such messages automaticallyinclined by specified angles so that at least the previous and nextmessages are displayed at different angles. In the illustrated example,the typed message 210 a is inclined from upper left to lower right andthe handwritten message 220 is inclined at a different angle from lowerleft to upper right, thereby producing a difference in angles betweenthe typed message 210 a and the handwritten message 220. By displayingmessages in this way, it is easy for the user to distinguish between theindividual messages that appear on the screen.

The input button 230 is a button for bringing up the input panel 400. Inthe input panel 400, it is possible to make an input operation for thehandwritten message 220 via a touch panel, tablet, mouse, or the likeincluded in the operation unit 120. Note that the reproduction controlunit 144 may hide the input button 230 if the user has not made anyparticular operation of the operation unit 120 and only display theinput button 230 when some kind of operation of the operation unit 120has been made. As mentioned earlier, the input panel 400 will bedescribed later.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of the first display screen200 displayed according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 5, an additional message 210 b generated bytyping has been added to the first display screen 200. Note that thecase where an additional message generated by handwriting is added willbe described later.

The additional message 210 b is a message that is currently beinggenerated by an input operation by the user using an input apparatus,such as a keyboard, included in the operation unit 120 of theinformation processing apparatus 100. As shown in the drawing, asidefrom text, the additional message 210 b may be accompanied by an iconimage indicating the poster of the message. Although the additionalmessage 210 b is shown in black and white in the illustrated example,the additional message 210 b may be displayed in color using one or aplurality of other colors. By carrying out a specified operation afterthe input operation, the user can have the additional message 210 bincluded in the historical log of messages displayed on the firstdisplay screen 200.

Here, the reproduction control unit 144 displays the additional message210 b at the bottom of the first display screen 200. The reproductioncontrol unit 144 also scrolls the typed message 210 a and thehandwritten message 220 that were already being displayed in thedirection of the oldest message on the display (i.e., the typed message210) by a distance corresponding to the display area of the additionalmessage 210 b at the bottom of the first display screen 200. Also, whendisplaying the additional message 210 b, the reproduction control unit144 may hide the input button 230 that is overlapped by the additionalmessage 210 b.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing one example of a second display screen 300displayed according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.As shown in FIG. 6, a handwritten event/appointment 310, a photograph320, a photograph embellishment 330, and an input button 340 aredisplayed on the second display screen 300. Aside from such messages,other types of message, such as a typed message or a handwrittenmessage, may also be displayed on the second display screen 300. Asshown in the drawing, the time/date may also be displayed on the seconddisplay screen 300.

The handwritten event/appointment 310 is inputted using the input panel400, described later. In the illustrated example, the handwrittenevent/appointment 310 is inputted by the user inputting the “Daddy'sBirthday” part as handwriting, with the format of the date/time partbeing provided in advance. The second display screen 300 can be used todisplay a message, like the handwritten event/appointment 310 forexample, that is important to the user at a prominent place to preventsuch message from being forgotten.

When the information processing apparatus 100 includes the camera unit130, the photograph 320 is an image acquired by such camera unit 130.Note that the recording of an image using the camera unit 130 will bedescribed later. The photograph embellishment 330 is inputted using theinput panel 400, which is also described later. In the illustratedexample, the photograph 320 is first recorded using the camera unit 130and then the user makes an input operation on the operation unit 120 toinput the photograph embellishment 330 using the input panel 400,resulting in the photograph embellishment 330 being recorded for thephotograph 320. The second display screen 300 may be used to displaymessages, like the photograph 320 and the photograph embellishment 330for example, that are of interest to the user at a prominent place toenable users to frequently enjoy such messages.

The input button 340 is a button for bringing up the input panel 400.Via the input panel 400, it is possible to make an input operation for ahandwritten message or the like by operating a touch panel, tablet,mouse, or the like included in the operation unit 120. The reproductioncontrol unit 144 may hide the input button 340 if the user has not madeany particular operation of the operation unit 120, and display theinput button 340 when the user has made some kind of operation of theoperation unit 120. Note that the input panel 400 will be describedlater.

FIG. 7 is a diagram useful in explaining changes in the displayproportions of the first display screen 200 and the second displayscreen 300 displayed according to the first embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 7, the second display screen 300 isdisplayed in the upper part of the screen and the first display screen200 is displayed in the lower part.

Here, the display proportions of the first display screen 200 and thesecond display screen 300 on the display unit 110 are determined inaccordance with a user operation acquired by the operation unit 120. Forexample, as shown in the drawing, when a touch panel that is theoperation unit 120 has acquired a touch operation by the user on anarbitrary point on the screen, the reproduction control unit 144 maydisplay the second display screen 300 above the touched point and thefirst display screen 200 below the touched point. As another example,when a touch panel that is the operation unit 120 has acquired an upwarddrag operation by the user from the bottom of the screen in a statewhere only the second display screen 300 is being displayed on thedisplay unit 110 as shown in FIG. 6, the reproduction control unit 144may display the first display screen 200 with a height and position inthe up-down direction determined by the drag operation. When doing so, avisual effect where the second display screen 300 that is displayed ontop of the first display screen 200 is peeled off to reveal the firstdisplay screen 200 in the peeled-off part may be displayed.

As one example, with a communication technology such as a BBS, althoughit is easy to grasp the order in which information has been exchanged,it is difficult to keep important information at a prominent place.Meanwhile, with a communication technology such as a corkboard, althoughit is easy to keep important information at a prominent place, it isdifficult to grasp the order in which information has been exchanged.

The configuration of the display screen according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure described above solves theseproblems. According to the present embodiment, by using a configurationwhere the reproduction control unit 144 reproduces messages in the firstdisplay screen 200 and the second display screen 300, it is possible todisplay a historical log of messages in a time series and simultaneouslydisplay important messages picked up from such messages in a prominentplace, which means that the user can grasp the order in whichinformation has been exchanged and also refer at any time to importantmessages.

In addition, by using a configuration where the reproduction controlunit 144 displays the second display screen 300 on top of the firstdisplay screen 200 on the display unit 110, it is possible to displaytwo display screens by making effective use of the display area of thedisplay unit 110. Also, by displaying important messages in front of thedisplay of the historical log of messages, it is possible for the userto intuitively grasp the relationships between individual messages.

Also, by using a configuration where the reproduction control unit 144changes the display proportions of the first display screen 200 and thesecond display screen 300 displayed in layers in accordance with a useroperation, such as indicating an arbitrary point on a touch panel,acquired by the operation unit 120, it is possible for the user toeasily change the display proportions of the first display screen 200and the second display screen 300 via an intuitive operation, and toalternately refer to the historical log of messages and the importantmessages as necessary.

Also, by using a configuration where the messages are moved between thefirst display screen 200 and the second display screen 300 in accordancewith a user operation acquired by the operation unit 120, it is possiblefor the user to refer to the two display screens described abovecontinuously via an intuitive operation.

By using a configuration where the reproduction control unit 144 isoperable when a message is added to the second display screen 300 toautomatically copy such added message to the first display screen 200,it is possible to maintain the consistency of the historical log ofmessages in the first display screen 200 while maintaining theconvenience whereby messages can be directly added to the second displayscreen 300.

By using a configuration where the reproduction control unit 144displays messages displayed on the first display screen 200 so as to beinclined by specified angles so that at least the previous and nextmessages are displayed at different angles, it is possible for the userto easily distinguish between the respective messages. It is alsopossible to change the display of the historical log of messages, whichcan prevent such display from looking old and monotonous to the user.

1-3. Input Operation for Messages

Next, an input operation for messages according to the first embodimentof the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to10.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing one example of a screen for generatinghandwritten messages using the input panel 400 that is displayedaccording to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG. 8, the input panel 400 includes a palette 410, a recordingexecution button 420 and an input region 430.

The input panel 400 is displayed by the reproduction control unit 144 onthe display unit 110 to acquire an input operation for a handwrittenmessage by the user made via a touch panel or a pointing device such asa tablet or a mouse included in the operation unit 120 of theinformation processing apparatus 100. The input panel 400 is displayedby a specified operation by the user acquired by the operation unit 120.As one example, such “specified operation” may be pressing the inputbutton 230 displayed on the first display screen 200 or pressing theinput button 340 displayed in the second display screen 300. Thespecified operation may alternatively be any other operation such aspressing a specified key of a keyboard or a double tap on the screenwhich is detected by a touch panel.

With the input panel 400 described above, the user first selects a colorfor the input using the palette 410. As one example, aside from aplurality of colors, an eraser for erasing lines may be provided on thepalette 410. The user next inputs a message in the input region 430. Thelines traced by such input are recorded as a message by the recordingcontrol unit 142. The user next presses the recording execution button420 and the inputted message is recorded to be displayed in the firstdisplay screen 200 or the second display screen 300. The display screenin which the inputted message is displayed is the first display screen200 when the input panel 400 was displayed due to the input button 230being pressed and is the second display screen 300 when the input panel400 was displayed due to the input button 340 being pressed. Note thatby selecting a region aside from the input panel 400, that is, a regionof the first display screen 200 or the second display screen 300, it ispossible to close the input panel 400. When doing so, the contentinputted by the user into the input region 430 may be stored until thenext time the input panel 400 is displayed, or such content may bedeleted.

Here, the reproduction control unit 144 may acquire the speed of inputby the user via the operation unit 120 and change the thickness of aninputted line displayed in the input region 430 in accordance with theinput speed. In this case, a line that has been slowly inputted by theuser is thickly displayed and a line that has been quickly inputted bythe user is thinly displayed. Also, when the operation unit 120 is atouch panel or a tablet for example and is capable of acquiring themagnitude of the applied pressure when the user makes an input, thereproduction control unit 144 may change the thickness of an inputtedline displayed in the input region 430 in accordance with the magnitudeof the applied pressure. In this case, a line inputted by the user witha strong press is thickly displayed and a line inputted by the user witha weak press is thinly displayed.

As shown in the drawing, the reproduction control unit 144 may displaythe input panel 400 with a smaller size than a display screen displayedin the background so that a certain amount of the display content of thefirst display screen 200 or the second display screen 300 displayed inthe background can be seen. The reproduction control unit 144 may alsodisplay the input panel 400 with a specified transparency. In such case,it is possible to make an input operation on the input panel 400 whilevisually referring to some extent to the messages displayed in thedisplay screen displayed in the background. As one example, wheninputting a message in response to another message, it is possible forthe user to generate a reply message while confirming the originalmessage.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing one example of an image pickup screen for aphotograph using the camera unit 130 realized by the input panel 400displayed according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure.As shown in FIG. 9, an image pickup button 440 and an image 450 aredisplayed on the input panel 400.

The image pickup button 440 is a button for causing the camera unit 130to take a photograph. The photograph taken by the camera unit 130 issent to the recording control unit 142 as image data, with the recordingcontrol unit 142 recording such image data as a message. Aside from whenthe image pickup button 440 is pressed, the camera unit 130 may take aphotograph when another specified operation, such as pressing aspecified key of a keyboard or a double tap on the screen detected by atouch panel, has been made.

The image 450 is image data acquired by the camera unit 130. Aside fromwhen a photograph is being taken and sent to the recording control unit142, when standing by to take a photograph, the camera unit 130 may pickup images of subjects in view as video data and provide such video datato the reproduction control unit 144 so that the video data is displayedas the image 450. Also, when a photograph has been taken by the cameraunit 130, the image data of the photograph may be sent to thereproduction control unit 144 and displayed as the image 450 for aspecified period or until an instruction is received from the user.

Note that in the illustrated example, the user is pointing the camera atan advertisement for a store. In this way, by recording a message usingthe camera unit 130, it is possible to load printed information as it isas a message.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing one example of an embellishment screen fora photograph using the input panel 400 displayed according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 10, a photographembellishment 460 is recorded for the image 450.

In the same way as the handwritten message described earlier, thephotograph embellishment 460 is inputted by a touch panel or a pointingdevice such as a tablet or a mouse included in the operation unit 120 ofthe information processing apparatus 100. Here, after a photograph hasbeen taken using the camera unit 130, it is possible to enable thephotograph embellishment 460 to be inputted with the taken photographstill on display as the image 450.

Note that in the illustrated example, the photograph embellishment 460that indicates a product that the user is interested in is inputted forthe image 450 that is a photograph of an advertisement for a store. Asshown in this example, by adding a drawing to a photograph taken usingthe camera unit 130, it is possible to add “plus alpha” information to aphotograph and record the result as a message.

With electronic communication technologies, it is difficult to enablethe posters of information to express their intentions and/or feelingsby way of intuitive operations, such as by adding handwritten text ordecorations. An input operation for a message according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure described above solves thisproblem. According to an input operation made via a touch panel or apointing device using the input panel 400 displayed by the reproductioncontrol unit 144, handwritten text and/or decorations is/are recorded byan operation that is intuitive to the user. Accordingly, it is possiblefor the user to easily add an expression of the user's intention and/orfeelings to a message to be recorded.

In addition, by using a configuration where the reproduction controlunit 144 changes the thickness of an inputted line on display inaccordance with the speed of input or the magnitude of applied pressure,it is possible to change the inputted line in accordance with anoperation that is intuitive to the user and thereby give users greaterfreedom to express their intentions and/or feelings when recordingmessages.

1-4. Move and Delete Operations for Messages

Next, move and delete operations for messages according to the firstembodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference toFIGS. 11 and 12.

FIG. 11 is a diagram useful in explaining a move operation for a messageaccording to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown inFIG. 11, the handwritten message 220 is moved from the first displayscreen 200 to the second display screen 300 in accordance with a dragoperation by the user on the touch panel that is the operation unit 120of the information processing apparatus 100.

Here, to show that the handwritten message 220 is being moved, thehandwritten message 220 may be displayed with a slightly larger displaysize than the normal display size for the first display screen 200 orthe second display screen 300. To show that the handwritten message 220is being moved, the handwritten message 220 may also be displayed with avisual effect that makes the handwritten message 220 appear to befloating in front of the screen. Although the handwritten message 220 ismoved in accordance with a drag operation by the user on the touch panelas shown in the drawing, instead of stopping the movement immediatelywhen the drag operation ends, the handwritten message 220 may bedisplayed so as to stop by decelerating gradually. If the handwrittenmessage 220 reaches the edge of the first display screen 200 or thesecond display screen 300 while gradually decelerating, a visual effectwhere the handwritten message 220 changes direction so as to move in theopposite direction may be displayed.

The handwritten message 220 may be moved between display screens fromthe first display screen 200 to the second display screen 300 or in theopposite direction, or moved within the first display screen 200 orwithin the second display screen 300. When the handwritten message 220is moved, the reproduction control unit 144 may also change the angle bywhich the handwritten message 220 is inclined before and after the move.The angle of inclination after movement may be decided according to theposition at which the handwritten message 220 is displayed aftermovement and the direction of movement of the handwritten message 220.

Note that although the case where the handwritten message 220 is movedhas been described above, it is possible to move every type of messagedisplayed on the first display screen 200 and the second display screen300, such as the typed message 210, the handwritten event/appointment310, the photograph 320, or the photo embellishment 330, in the same wayas described above. Although all of such items can fundamentally bemoved to a freely chosen position, in the first display screen 200, tomaintain consistency for the historical log, movement that changes theorder of messages may be restricted so that as one example for the casewhere messages are recorded from the top to the bottom, it is notpossible to move a lower message upward so as to pass the immediatelypreceding message.

Also, although the case where a message is moved in accordance with adrag operation by the user on a touch panel that is the operation unit120 has been described above, as other examples it is also possible tomove a message in the same way as described above by a drag operation bya pointing device, such as a tablet or a mouse, or an operation such aspressing direction keys of a keyboard.

FIG. 12 is a diagram useful in explaining a delete operation for amessage according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure. Asshown in FIG. 12, the handwritten message 220 is deleted from the firstdisplay screen 200 in accordance with a drag operation by the user on atouch panel that constructs the operation unit 120 of the informationprocessing apparatus 100.

Here, the handwritten message 220 is moved to a part that corresponds toan edge of the display unit 110 by a drag operation by the user and isdeleted by ending the drag operation at such position. To show that thehandwritten message 220 is to be deleted, the handwritten message 220may be displayed by making the display colors fainter or translucent.Also, to show that the handwritten message 220 is to be deleted, thehandwritten message 220 may be displayed with a visual effect where thehandwritten message 220 moves so as to be pulled off the screen of thedisplay unit 110. When a drag operation by the user ends at a partcorresponding to the edge of the display unit 110, the handwrittenmessage 220 may be deleted immediately. Alternatively, when a dragoperation by the user ends at a part corresponding to the edge of thedisplay unit 110, the handwritten message 220 may be displayed on thefirst display screen 200 with a smaller size than previously or may bedisplayed only in part and then deleted when the user performs aseparate operation or when a specified period has passed.

Note that although the case where the handwritten message 220 displayedon the first display screen 200 is deleted has been described above, itis possible to delete the various items displayed on the first displayscreen 200 and the second display screen 300, such as the typed message210, the handwritten event/appointment 310, the photograph 320, or thephotograph embellishment 330, in the same way as described above.

Also, although the case where a message is deleted in accordance with adrag operation by the user on a touch panel that is the operation unit120 has been described above, as other examples it is also possible todelete a message in the same way as described above by a drag operationby a pointing device, such as a tablet or a mouse, or an operation suchas pressing direction keys of a keyboard.

When information displayed on a corkboard, for example, is moved on thecorkboard or is removed from the corkboard, the user can grasp the stateof the information from changes that the user visually notices, even ifunintentionally. As one example, when moving a document displayed on acorkboard, the document is first moved off the corkboard and thereforeits appearance for a user facing the corkboard will change in that thedocument will float in front of the corkboard. However, on a screen thatis an interface of an electronic communication device, it is difficultto visually grasp the state of information that is being moved ordeleted.

The operations whereby messages are moved and deleted according to thefirst embodiment of the present disclosure described above solve theabove problem. According to the operations whereby messages are movedand deleted according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure,a message that is being moved or deleted is displayed with some kind ofvisually different appearance. Accordingly, a user can easily carry outediting such as moving or deleting text or illustrations via intuitiveoperations.

2. SECOND EMBODIMENT

Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 13A to 15. Note that according to the secondembodiment of the present disclosure, although the reproduction processfor messages differs compared to the first embodiment, the remainingfunctional configuration is substantially the same and thereforedetailed description thereof is omitted.

FIGS. 13A to 13D are diagrams useful in explaining one example of aprocedure whereby the handwritten message 220 is reproduced according tothe second embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIGS. 13Ato 13D, the handwritten message 220 is reproduced in the order in whichthe message was written during input, that is, the handwritten message220 is displayed as animation in order of an upper part 220 a of a shoe,a sole part 220 b of the shoe, a text part 220 c for the characters“How”, and a text part 220 d for the characters “about this?”. That is,the handwritten message 220 is reproduced by processing the message inaccordance with the state of the input operation.

To reproduce the handwritten message 220 as animation, the recordingcontrol unit 142 records the handwritten message 220 together with thestate of the input operation when the input operation by the user isacquired via the operation unit 120. For example, the recording controlunit 142 may record, as the state of the input operation, the durationsof the respective input operations for the parts 220 a to 220 d andstore the durations in the storage unit 150. More specifically, duringthe input operation for the handwritten message 220, the durations fromthe start of the input operation to the respective ends of input of theparts 220 a to 220 d are recorded and stored in the storage unit 150.When reproducing the handwritten message 220 on the first display screen200, the reproduction control unit 144 sets the durations from the startof reproduction of the animation of the handwritten message 220 untilthe displaying of the respective parts 220 a to 220 d at periodsdetermined in accordance with the durations of the input operation.

Here, the reproduction control unit 144 may reproduce the animation of amessage so that for intervals in the input of a message during the inputoperation, the duration of reproduction is shorter than the duration ofthe input operation. In such case, in the illustrated example, thedurations during reproduction for the intervals between the input of theparts 220 a to 220 d in the input operation are set shorter than thedurations during the input operation. More specifically, if the durationof an interval from the end of input of the part 220 a to the start ofinput of the part 220 b is three seconds during the input operation, thereproduction control unit 144 may set the duration of the reproductionof such interval at 0.5 seconds which is shorter than the duration ofthe input operation. In this case, the relationship between the durationduring an input operation and the duration during reproduction may beset with consideration to the difference in perception of time to theuser between when a message is being recorded and when a message isbeing reproduced. For example, although a user will be thinking whilemaking an input when a message is recorded and therefore will not beespecially conscious of the passage of time during an interval in input,when a message is being reproduced, the user will want to see themessage and will therefore be conscious of the passage of time during aninterval in reproduction. This means that if intervals are long, thereproduction may feel sluggish to the user.

The reproduction control unit 144 may also reproduce an entire messageand an animation of the message in parallel. In the illustrated example,the reproduction control unit 144 first displays the entire handwrittenmessage 220 using colors that are fainter than normal or colors thathave a specified transparency. At the same time, the reproductioncontrol unit 144 reproduces the parts 220 a to 220 d in order. Whendoing so, the animation of the handwritten message 220 is reproduced soas to trace the entire handwritten message 220 that is already beingfaintly displayed. Alternatively, the reproduction control unit 144 mayfirst display the entire message using the normal colors beforegradually fading the colors of the message and then displaying theanimation of the message.

FIG. 14 is a diagram useful in explaining another example of a procedurewhere the handwritten message 220 is reproduced according to the secondembodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 14, out of thehandwritten message 220, the upper part 220 a of the shoe and the textpart 220 c for the characters “How” are reproduced as animation at thesame time.

In the example described above, the reproduction control unit 144divides the message into specified parts and reproduces an animation ofthe specified parts in parallel. In the illustrated example, out of thehandwritten message 220, the reproduction control unit 144 reproducesthe part 220 a of the drawing of the shoe and the text part 220 c forthe characters “How” in parallel. Here, the reproduction control unit144 divides the handwritten message 220 into specified parts composed ofthe “drawing parts 220 a, 220 b” and the “text parts 220 c, 220 d” andreproduces the respective parts in parallel as an animation. As thespecified parts, as examples the reproduction control unit 144 maydivide a message into continuous parts (as examples, a plurality ofparts that are graphically connected or parts that were generated by aninput operation with no intervals in between) or parts generated byinput operations with different colors.

Note that in the example described above, as described earlier, thereproduction control unit 144 may make the durations of intervals ininput shorter during reproduction than the durations during the inputoperation or display the entire message in parallel to the animation ofthe message.

Note that although the case where the handwritten message 220 isreproduced as animation has been described above with reference to FIGS.13 and 14, it is possible to reproduce the various items displayed onthe first display screen 200 and the second display screen 300, such asthe typed message 210, the handwritten event/appointment 310, thephotograph 320, or the photograph embellishment 330, as animations inthe same way. In the case of the typed message 210 for example, therecording control unit 142 may record the timing of keystrokes of akeyboard that constructs the operation unit 120, for example, as thestate of the input operation. In such case, the typed message 210 isreproduced as animation by recreating the timing when the message wastyped.

When a plurality of messages are displayed on the first display screen200 and the second display screen 300, the reproduction control unit 144may reproduce an animation for only a specified message selected out ofthe plurality of messages. As one example, the specified message may bea message that has just been subjected to an input operation or amovement operation. When the user has not operated the operation unit120, the reproduction control unit 144 may select one message randomlyas the specified message and display such message as an animateddisplay. On the first display screen 200, for example, the reproductioncontrol unit 144 may select the specified message in order from theoldest of the recorded messages so as to reproduce animation for all ofthe messages in a time series. In this way, by reproducing animation foronly a specified message, it is possible to prevent the entire displayfrom appearing messy and confusing.

FIG. 15 is a graph showing one example of the relationship between theduration of an input operation of a message and the duration ofreproduction according to the second embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 15, the duration of reproduction isadjusted in accordance with the duration of an input operation.

More specifically, in a first region where the duration of the inputoperation is no longer than a first specified threshold of two seconds,the reproduction control unit 144 sets the duration of reproduction atthe same time as the duration of the input operation. In a second regionwhere the duration of the input operation is longer than two seconds butis no longer than a second specified threshold of twenty-five seconds,the reproduction control unit 144 sets the duration of reproductionshorter than the duration of the input operation. In a third regionwhere the duration of the input operation is longer than twenty-fiveseconds, the reproduction control unit 144 sets the duration ofreproduction at a fixed value regardless of the duration of the inputoperation.

Note that although the reproduction control unit 144 converts theduration of the input operation to the duration of reproduction using alinear function in the second region described above, a non-linearconversion may be carried out using Bezier curves, for example. Thefirst specified threshold and the second specified threshold describedabove may also be set at arbitrary values. The duration of reproductiondoes not need to be adjusted using the three regions described above,and only the first and second regions, the second and third regions, orthe first and third regions may be set.

By adjusting the duration of reproduction as in the illustrated example,it is possible to compensate the difference in user's perception of timebetween when a message is recorded and when a message is reproduced andprevent the user from feeling that the animated reproduction of amessage is sluggish.

FIG. 16 is a graph showing another example of the relationship betweenthe duration of an input operation and the duration of reproduction fora message according to the second embodiment of the present disclosure.As shown in FIG. 16, the duration of reproduction is adjusted inaccordance with the duration of an input operation.

More specifically, in a first region where the duration of the inputoperation is no longer than a first specified threshold of four seconds,the reproduction control unit 144 sets the duration of reproductionshorter than the duration of the input operation. In a second regionwhere the duration of the input operation is longer than the specifiedthreshold of four seconds but is no longer than a second specifiedthreshold of eight seconds, the reproduction control unit 144 sets theduration of reproduction longer than the duration of the inputoperation. In a third region where the duration of the input operationis longer than eight seconds, the reproduction control unit 144 sets theduration of reproduction at a fixed value regardless of the duration ofthe input operation.

Note that although the reproduction control unit 144 converts theduration of the input operation to the duration of reproduction using alinear function in the first and second regions described above, anon-linear conversion may be carried out using Bezier curves, forexample. The specified thresholds described above may be set atarbitrary values. The duration of reproduction does not need to beadjusted using the three regions described above, and only the first andsecond regions, the second and third regions, or the first and thirdregions may be set.

By adjusting the duration of reproduction as in the example describedabove, when the duration of an input operation is short, the duration ofreproduction is made even shorter, while when the duration of an inputoperation is long, the duration of reproduction is made even longer.That is, parts that were inputted quickly during an input operation aredisplayed more quickly and parts that were inputted slowly are displayedmore slowly so as to be displayed with an exaggerated input speed. Ifthe third region described above is set, it is possible to prevent theduration of reproduction from becoming endlessly long and also restrictthe exaggeration of the input speed to a range that is still realistic.

Note that the adjustments to the duration of reproduction describedabove with reference to FIGS. 15 and 16 may be combined with oneanother. That is, it is possible to set a combination of a part wherethe duration of reproduction is shortened, a part where the duration ofreproduction is extended, and a part where the duration of reproductionis fixed as appropriate in accordance with the user's perception duringreproduction.

With electronic communication devices, it has not been easy for postersof information to express their intentions and feelings using elementsaside from the direct content of messages. For example, even when ahandwritten message has been stored as an image, it has not beenpossible to sufficiently express the atmosphere/mood or intention orfeelings of the poster when the message was recorded.

The reproduction process for a message according to the secondembodiment of the present disclosure described above solves thisproblem. By using a configuration where the reproduction control unit144 of the information processing apparatus 100 according to the presentembodiment processes and reproduces a message in accordance with thestate of an input operation, the state of the input operation when themessage was recorded is reflected in the reproduction of the message asanimation, for example. Accordingly, it is possible for a user (poster)who records a message to better express the atmosphere/mood or theposter's intention and/or feelings when the message is recorded, andpossible for a user who reproduces a message to feel suchatmosphere/mood or intention and/or feelings. It is also possible tochange dynamic elements such as the speed and order of input in additionto static elements such as the content of the message, the writing, thecolor, and decorations, which makes it more fun for users to record andreproduce messages.

In addition, by using a configuration where the reproduction controlunit 144 reproduces messages with a duration of reproduction inaccordance with the duration of the input operation, it is possible asexamples to express a part that the poster of a message wishes toemphasize or a part that is of concern using the speed at which areproduced message is displayed.

Also, by using a configuration where the reproduction control unit 144sets the duration of reproduction of an interval in input shorter thanthe duration during the input operation, it is possible to prevent theanimation when reproducing a message from becoming sluggish due to gapsand possible to reduce the duration of reproduction while maintainingthe atmosphere/mood from the time of the input operation.

By using a configuration where the reproduction control unit 144reproduces the entire message in parallel with an animation of themessage, it is possible even during the display of animation to displaythe entire message so as to be at least partially visible and therebyenable the user to quickly grasp the content of the message.

Also, by using a configuration where the reproduction control unit 144divides a message into specified parts and reproduces the units in therespective parts in parallel, it is possible to reduce the duration ofreproduction while maintaining at least some of the atmosphere/moodduring the input operation.

By using a configuration where the reproduction control unit 144 makesthe duration of reproduction of a message shorter than the duration ofthe input operation when the duration of the input operation exceeds thefirst specified threshold, it is possible, even for a message whoseinput operation took a long time, to produce an animated display thatreflects the difference in input speed while preventing the reproducedanimation from being too long.

Also, by using a configuration where the reproduction control unit 144sets the duration of reproduction of a message at a fixed timeregardless of the duration of an input operation when the duration ofthe input operation exceeds the second specified threshold, it ispossible, even for a message whose input operation took a long time, toprevent the duration of reproduction from becoming endlessly long andalso restrict the exaggeration of the input speed to a range that isstill realistic.

By using a configuration where the reproduction control unit 144 setsthe duration of reproduction of a message shorter than the duration ofthe input operation when the duration of the input operation is shorterthan the third specified threshold, it is possible to reproduce a partthat was quickly inputted during an input operation even more quicklyand thereby emphasize the speed of input.

Also, by using a configuration where the reproduction control unit 144sets the duration of reproduction of a message longer than the durationof the input operation when the duration of the input operation exceedsa fourth specified threshold, it is possible to reproduce a part thatwas slowly inputted during the input operation even more slowly andthereby emphasize the slow speed of the input.

3. THIRD EMBODIMENT

Next, a third embodiment of the present disclosure will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 17 to 19. Note that although the thirdembodiment of the present disclosure differs to the first and secondembodiments in that the information processing apparatus is additionallyequipped with a communication unit, the remaining functionalconfiguration is substantially the same as the first and secondembodiments and therefore detailed description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of aninformation processing apparatus 600 according to a third embodiment ofthe present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 17, the information processingapparatus 600 includes the display unit 110, the operation unit 120, thecontrol unit 140, the storage unit 150, and the communication unit 160,and may additionally include the camera unit 130 as necessary.

The communication unit 160 communicates with another informationprocessing apparatus 800 via a server on a network 700. Thecommunication unit 160 may be a network interface such as a LAN (LocalArea Network) or a USB. The communication unit 160 receives messagesrecorded by the other information processing apparatus 800. The otherinformation processing apparatus 800 may be one of various types ofapparatus that are capable of generating messages, such as a mobileterminal or a personal computer. Also, the other information processingapparatus 800 may be an information processing apparatus with the sameconfiguration as the information processing apparatus 600.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing one example of a display screen accordingto the third embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 18,a new message 210 c recorded by the other information processingapparatus 800 is displayed in the first display screen 200.

The new message 210 c is transmitted from the information processingapparatus 800 and received by the communication unit 160. Thecommunication unit 160 sends the new message 210 c to the reproductioncontrol unit 144 and the reproduction control unit 144 displays the newmessage 210 c on the display unit 110. The new message 210 c may be atyped message as shown in the drawing, or may be a handwritten message,a handwritten event/appointment, a photograph, or a photographembellishment. When the new message 210 c is a typed message, as shownin the drawing the message may be accompanied by an icon showing theposter of the message.

Here, if the new message 210 c received from the other informationprocessing apparatus 800 has been acquired from the communication unit160, the reproduction control unit 144 may display the new message 210 cat the bottom of the first display screen 200. Here, the reproductioncontrol unit 144 scrolls the typed message 210 a and the handwrittenmessage 220 that were already being displayed in the direction of theoldest message on the display (i.e., the typed message 210 a) by adistance corresponding to the display area of the new message 210 c atthe bottom of the first display screen 200. When the user makes somekind of operation after the new message 210 c has been displayed, thenew message 210 c is incorporated into the historical log of messagesand an operation such as moving or deleting the message in the same wayas other messages becomes possible.

When the second display screen 300 is being displayed on substantiallyall of the display unit 110, the reproduction control unit 144 mayautomatically change the display proportions of the first display screen200 and the second display screen 300 and set the bottom of the screenas the first display screen 200 so as to display the new message 210 c.When doing so, a visual effect where the second display screen 300 thatis displayed on top of the first display screen 200 appears to be peeledoff may be displayed.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart useful in describing a display process for thenew message 210 c according to the third embodiment of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 19, the reproduction control unit 144carries out a process that displays the new message 210 c while avoidingconflict with other operations or displaying.

First, the reproduction control unit 144 judges whether the input panel400 is being displayed (step S501). Here, if it is judged that the inputpanel 400 is being displayed, the reproduction control unit 144 judgeswhether a previous new message is being displayed (step S503).Meanwhile, if it is judged that the input panel 400 is not beingdisplayed, the reproduction control unit 144 judges whether a message isbeing moved by a user operation on the operation unit 120 (step S505).

If it is judged in step S505 that the user is moving a message, thereproduction control unit 144 ends the processing so as to avoidconflict between the message moving operation and the displaying of thenew message 210 c. Meanwhile, if it is judged that the user is notmoving a message, the reproduction control unit 144 judges whether aprevious new message is being displayed (step S503).

If it is judged in step S503 that a previous new message is beingdisplayed, the reproduction control unit 144 ends the processing so asto avoid conflict with the displaying of a new message that waspreviously received but has not been confirmed by the user. Meanwhile,if it is judged that a previous new message is not being displayed, thereproduction control unit 144 confirms the new message 210 c received bythe communication unit 160 (step S507).

Next, in step S509, the reproduction control unit 144 judges whetherthere is a new message 210 c that has been received by the communicationunit 160 (step S509). Here, if it is judged that there is a new message210 c, the reproduction control unit 144 displays the new message 210 c(step S511) and ends the processing. Meanwhile, if it is judged thatthere is no new message, the reproduction control unit 144 ends theprocessing.

According to the configuration of the display screen according to thethird embodiment of the present disclosure described above, it ispossible to obtain the same effect as the first and second embodimentsof the present disclosure for messages that have been received via anetwork. However, when a message received via a network is displayed,there is a potential problem of such message obstructing an operation,that is, interrupting an operation such as input, movement, or deletionof a message on the information processing apparatus 600.

In such case, the configuration of the present embodiment that displaysthe new message 210 c while avoiding conflict with other operations ordisplaying is effective. By using such configuration, the reproductioncontrol unit 144 suppresses the displaying of the new message until aprocess such as the inputting, moving, or deleting of a message on theinformation processing apparatus 600 ends. Accordingly, it is possibleto enable users to confirm a new message with time and without otherdistractions after a process such as the inputting, moving, or deletingof a message on the information processing apparatus 600 has ended. Thismakes it possible to reduce confirmation errors for new messages.

4. APPENDIX

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

As one example, although the information processing apparatus accordingto the third embodiment of the present technology has been described asreceiving a message from the other information processing apparatus viaa server on a network, the present technology is not limited to suchexample. As one example, an information processing apparatus may act asa server itself and directly receive a message from another informationprocessing apparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus comprising: acircuitry configured to initiate an acquisition of an input operationperformed with respect to a selected background image, record image datain response to the input operation, and initiate a reproduction of therecorded image data along with the selected background image, so as todisplay an animation corresponding to an order of the input operation.2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe input operation is acquired in a duration and the animation isdisplayed in a reproduction duration different from the acquisitionduration.
 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,wherein the reproduction duration is shorter than the acquisitionduration.
 4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,wherein an interval of the reproduction duration of the animation isshorter than an interval of the acquisition duration of the inputoperation.
 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the input operation is acquired over a duration of time that isdifferent than a duration of time for utilized for the displaying of theanimation in reproducing the recorded image data.
 6. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the duration of timeutilized for the displaying of the animation in reproducing the recordedimage data is shorter than the duration of time over which the inputoperation is acquired.
 7. The information processing apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the recorded image data is reproduced as a message.8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe animation is displayed in correspondence with a sequence by whichstrokes of the input operation are provided by the user.
 9. Aninformation processing method comprising: acquiring an input operationperformed with respect to a selected background image; recording imagedata in response to the input operation; and reproducing the recordedimage data along with the selected background image, so as to display ananimation corresponding to an order of the input operation.
 10. Theinformation processing method according to claim 9, wherein the inputoperation is acquired in a duration and the animation is displayed in areproduction duration different from the acquisition duration.
 11. Theinformation processing method according to claim 10, wherein thereproduction duration is shorter than the acquisition duration.
 12. Theinformation processing method according to claim 10, wherein an intervalof the reproduction duration of the animation is shorter than aninterval of the acquisition duration of the input operation.
 13. Theinformation processing method according to claim 12, wherein the inputoperation is acquired over a duration of time that is different than aduration of time for utilized for the displaying of the animation inreproducing the recorded image data.
 14. The information processingmethod according to claim 13, wherein the duration of time utilized forthe displaying of the animation in reproducing the recorded image datais shorter than the duration of time over which the input operation isacquired.
 15. The information processing method according to claim 9,wherein the recorded image data is reproduced as a message.
 16. Theinformation processing method according to claim 9, wherein theanimation is displayed in correspondence with a sequence by whichstrokes of the input operation are provided by the user.
 17. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having a program embodiedthereon, which when executed by a computer causes the computer toexecute an information processing method, the method comprising:acquiring an input operation performed with respect to a selectedbackground image; recording image data in response to the inputoperation; and reproducing the recorded image data along with theselected background image, so as to display an animation correspondingto an order of the input operation.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 17, wherein in the executedmethod, the input operation is acquired in a duration and the animationis displayed in a reproduction duration different from the acquisitionduration.
 19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according toclaim 18, wherein in the executed method, the reproduction duration isshorter than the acquisition duration.
 20. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium according to claim 17, wherein in the executedmethod, the input operation is acquired over a duration of time that isdifferent than a duration of time for utilized for the displaying of theanimation in reproducing the recorded image data.